The Rest Of Us
by RemnantOfVanitas
Summary: Zane O'Malley is a 17 year old boy. He has lived his entire life during the cordyceps infection. Now he has a new challenge to deal with, a new girl named Ellie...
1. A New Story Begins

**Thwack!**

I watched as my arrow sailed through the breezy forest air and found its target deep in the stomach of a squirrel. The small body tumbled off the branch and fell onto the grassy woodland floor. It was a quick jog over to the fallen trophy, my hand reaching down to pick it up.

"Bullseye!" I exclaimed triumphantly to myself as I laid my bow on the ground.

I quickly pulled the bloody arrow out and slipped my bag off my shoulders. I sat the body next to it as I unzipped the bag, revealing some basic supplies. I removed a small rag, a hunting knife and a piece of flint. I quickly wiped off the arrow tip with the rag and stored it back in the bag. I moved to my next activity, making a fire.

"Okay just need some grass" the thought escaped verbally through my lips as I grabbed some dry grass and a few small twigs around me. Soon they were stacked on top of each other in a small pile till it was about a foot wide. I quickly took my hunting knife and grabbed the flint. As I scraped the knife along the flint, little pieces of it gathered in the center of the pile. After a few scrapes, I flipped the flint over and once again ran the blade against the flint causing sparks. The sparks jumped to the pile but did nothing.

"Dammit" I cursed quietly and moved the flint closer to the kindling. A few more scrapes later and the pile ignited. I smiled in accomplishment and returned the flint to my bag. I cupped my hands around the smoldering brush and blew lightly onto it, occasionally adding a few sticks of varying size. To pass some time as the fire builds, I skinned the squirrel. I divided the guts and skin into a heap leaving me with only meat and bones. I quickly jumped up and doused the squirrel in a nearby stream and then returned to my small fire. I quickly reached into my bag and grabbed a small rod with a sharp point at the end and shoved it through the body and held it over the fire. I eagerly took a bite out of the freshly cooked squirrel as it turned to a light brown color. I was finished quickly and I piled the bones next to the guts and stomped out the small fire. I cleaned off my hands and the rest of my tools in the stream and stuffed them all back in my back I quickly washed off my jeans and t shirt in the stream to get some of the bloodstains out. After the stains had gone, I slipped my wet clothes back on. I secured my bow to my bag and slipped it back over my shoulders. I looked up to see the shining sun still fairly high in the sky and then checked my watch.

"Only 4:30, I have plenty of time to get back in for dinner" I quickly started my jog through the woods constantly admiring the features of nature. The singing of birds. The rustling of the leaves as the wind blows through the trees. The beams of sunlight gleaming on the ground. Nature was something that was a big part of my life. Growing up in a time where you're always on the move and the fact that you could die any second really makes you appreciate the small things. My dad and I were constantly in the woods, hunting and scavenging. He always wanted to make sure if anything ever happened to him, that I'd be prepared to take his place. That meant being prepared to protect my little sister, Abigail, and my mother. Needless to say I spend most of my time in the woods, even though there is no need for me to hunt, now that we have food and a roof over our heads. Guess it's just become a habit of mine. In no time I saw the road and climbed up onto the hot pavement. The tall steel walls loomed a few feet down the road. When I came within a few feet of the walls, I looked around for a tree I had marked with my initial. This was another skill taught to me by dear old dad: Always leave markers so you don't get lost. I quickly found the tree with a Z carved into it. The tree had a hollow interior and was a great place to store my gear. I took off my backpack and placed it in the open tree and covered it with some leaves. I got up and walked the rest of the way to the wall. I checked my surroundings to make sure I was alone and quickly searched for my secret entrance. I felt around for a loose pile of soil and dug it away revealing a small tunnel under the wall. I squeezed under the wall and brushed all the dirt back in the opening and packed it down. I then quietly ran down past a few houses and stopped at the small house with peeling pale blue paint. I grabbed the doorknob and wrenched the squeaky door open. I walked in and slammed the door behind me.

"Mom I'm home!" I yelled as I quickly made my way up the stairs, to my room.

"How was your day? You and Joe didn't get into any trouble did you?" she asked in response. I kept walking but replied.

"It was good and no, we didn't get in trouble" I reached the top of the stairs and walked into my room and closed the door behind me. This is another great example of my lying skills. Anytime I want to go outside the wall, I just tell her I'm with Joe, a fifteen year kid that I hang out with sometimes. His family got here around the same time that mine did and he kind of gravitated towards me because I was the only kid that was around his age at the time. I looked around my dilapidated room. Clothes piled in the closet, a disheveled bed laden with various blankets and a very uncomfortable pillow with a small nightstand next to it, and a weathered dresser with a bunch of various items I had collected on it, in the corner. I kicked my worn out steel toe boots off next to my bed. I checked my watch and sighed. It read 4:50. Perfect. Just enough time for a power nap. I trudged to my bed and fell onto it, the strained springs squeaking. I was exhausted. Just as I was about to doze off, I heard the wonderful screaming voice of my mother.

"Zane, dinner!" I groaned and sat up tiredly.

"Comin' mom!" I yelled back, stood up and sluggishly walked over and yanked open the door and slammed it shut behind me. I quickly made my way down the hallway, down the steps, and into the kitchen. My mom was standing at the sink, washing dishes, and my 8 year old sister was sitting at the table already eating what looked like beans…again.

"Ugh mom, we're eating beans again?" I groaned. She turned away from the sink and looked at me sternly, saying no words.

"But me and dad could easily go out in the woods and-"

"No" she said quickly, cutting me off.

"We are not going outside the walls just because you are tired of the food, Tommy told us that the farm is almost ready to be harvested so you'll have to wait till then, now sit down and get eating" I quickly sat down. I love my mom and all but you don't want to get her mad, it doesn't end well. I guess that means I still have to sneak around if I want to go outside. I grudgingly scooped the food into the bowl near my seat and sat down. As I started eating, I noticed my sister staring at me with a weird look on her face.

"Abby, what are you looking at?" I questioned as I proceeded to force the bland beans down.

She pointed at my shirt and talked with her mouth full.

"You have water all over your thirt" Oh yeah I forgot to say that she has a lisp. You have no idea how annoying that can get. I looked down at my white t shirt. My shirt was a little damp still, from the stream. I quickly came up with a lie to cover it.

"Oh Joe sprayed me with the hose " I said with a fake laugh. My ability to come up with quick lies is pretty good, don't you think? My sister swiftly dismissed it, and to my surprise, my mother didn't even say anything. I looked up at the clock in the wall. It read 5:20, usually dad was home at 5. Before I got the chance to ask where dad was, I heard the door open. Speak of the devil. I heard the sound of my dads boots clacking on the floor as he walked into the kitchen. He took off his construction hat and placed it on my sister's head.

"There's my little girl" he said smiling at Abby. She jumped up and hugged him.

After she pried herself off of him, he looked to me and I waved.

"Hey dad, whatsup?" I asked as I finished the dreadful, bland food.

"Just another long day at work" he answered as he walked over, kissed my mother, and sat down at the table. My dad was one of the construction workers down at the dam, so they usually kept him there pretty long because of the limited amount of people. As my mom finished cleaning the dishes, she turned around and leaned against the counter.

"So how is the dam holding up?" she asked while my dad filled his bowl with the remaining food.

"Well it's still going strong, but you know how that goes, I mean it's not like Steve is Einstein" he proceeded with a chuckle and started on his meal. My mom nodded and laughed too. I looked at my sister and she had a puzzled look on her face.

"Daddy, who ith Einthtein?" she asked with wide, curious eyes.

"Einstein was a very, very smart scientist that lived a long time ago" he answered, smiling.

"Oh" she said promptly and nodded. Even I didn't know who that was. I never went to school for obvious reasons, you know, cause of the infection and all. I had the opportunity to go because they had a functioning school here but I was never really into the idea of sitting around, doing nothing, for eight hours straight. Also, I'm 17 so there's really no point to go for one year. Survival skills are more important anyway.

"So what were you up to today, son?" my dad asked as he looked up from his food, to me.

"Oh, nothing much, just ran around with Joe, nothing special, may I be excused?" I said quickly. He just nodded. I stood up from the table and put my dishes in the sink. Before I even reached the steps the phone rang. I heard my dad stand up and grab the phone attached to the kitchen wall. I watched and listened as he talked.

"Hello?...Oh hey Tommy, how's it going?...Oh really?...Yeah, yeah we can do that….Alright...yep, yep, tomorrow works…..see you then, bye." He put the phone back into its holder on the wall and sat back down at the table.

"So what was that all about?" I asked him.

"Well you remember a couple months ago, when Tommy's brother and that girl walked up to the dam?" He asked me.

I nodded.

"Good, well they left and I guess they came back and Tommy wanted to know if they could stay here, so we are gonna have some new residents." He said smiling.

"And since their isn't many teenagers here I want you to bring her with you when you hang out with Joe" he continued.

"Ugh come on dad!" I groaned

"Stop, just do what I say" he snapped abruptly

"…..alright whatever" I said under my breath as I trudged back upstairs. This was going to suck.


	2. Bonding Time

I awoke to the sound of a loud banging on my door. I sat up quickly and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and pushed the assortment of blankets off me and got up to open the door. I yanked it open to find my sister standing there, still in her pajamas.

"What do you want?" I asked groggily

"Mommy and Daddy thaid to tell you to come downthtaiwth" she answered with a look of satisfaction on her face. I always had to watch her and take care of her while mom and dad were out of the house so any chance she got to boss me around, she took it.

"Ugh, alright I'll be down in a second" I groaned as I shut the door again and maneuvered my way through my disaster of a room to my closet. I quickly pulled off the white muscle shirt I had put on before bed and replaced it with a faded black shirt I had found in a house we had come across before we found the dam. It looked like it had had some words and a design on it before but all that could be made out on it was part of a skull and the word "Seven". I also pulled on some worn out jeans, buttoned them, and slipped on my boots. I raked my hand through my dark brown bangs and pushed them out of my face and grabbed my watch. I glanced at my watch which read 8:10. I sighed then exited my room. As I made my way down the hallway I heard the voices of my mother and father and another voice I didn't recognize. I turned the corner and went down the stairs and into the kitchen to find my dad standing at the sink with his construction hat in hand, my mom sitting at the table with Abby on her lap, and a tall man and a young girl standing next to him. The man looked to be early in his fifties, with a slightly graying beard and just by looking at his grizzled face and his heavily calloused hands, I could tell that he'd seen some shit in his life. He had a stained and disheveled gray button up shirt on with a extremely faded brown backpack over his shoulders and some equally faded jeans and boots. The girl next to him had her messy auburn hair pulled back into a loose ponytail and had a fairly pretty face dotted with freckles. She also sported a worn out blue backpack with a few key chains and pins attached. She was also wearing a light red flannel jacket with a gray t shirt underneath accompanied by some dark jeans and a pair of overworked sneakers. As I walked into the room everyone's attention turned to me and my dad motioned towards the two.

"Hey son, these are our new housemates, Joel and Ellie" he said smiling.

"And Joel and Ellie, this is my son Zane" he said, introducing me. I forced a smile and greeted them.

"How's it goin'?" I asked politely. Gotta be polite in an apocalypse ya know. Joel smirked and replied.

"Well pretty good besides all the face-eaters wandering around out there" he chuckled, garnering a laugh from my mom and dad. I noticed Ellie didn't really react. She was just staring down at her feet, silent. Joel noticed this and nudged her. She looked up quick at this.

"Come on Ellie, be a little sociable" he said with a smile. She muttered a small "Hey" and went back her regularly scheduled program of "Ellie's Shoes". I groaned internally. Now I'm gonna have to deal with this too. I snapped out of my own mind and focused back on the conversation going on.

"Well me and Joel better get out of here and head down to the dam so we don't get Maria barking at us" my dad proclaimed as he placed his hat on his head. He leaned down and kissed my mother and Abby. Joel nodded to my dad and looked to Ellie.

"Ellie stay here and behave" he said with his hand on her shoulder. I half expected her to object like a normal teenager but she just shrugged.

"Okay, whatever" I could see a worried look in Joel's face but he just took his hand away and turned to my dad.

"Alright Earl, I'm ready" My dad nodded and the men made their way to the front door and slammed it behind them as they left. I turned to my mom and sister who had gotten up from their seats already and were cleaning up what looked like breakfast. I usually skipped breakfast because I always slept in late. Kinda my bad habit I guess.

"Mom I think I'm gonna head out no hang out with Joe, is that ok?" I asked already knowing what her answer would be.

"Sure hon, just make sure-" I interrupted and finished the sentence.

"-I stay out of trouble and be home for dinner, I know, I know" I completed with a smirk on my face. She rolled her eyes at me and then pointed at Ellie, who was still extremely interested in her shoelaces.

"And make sure you bring Ellie, show her around, ok?" I shook my head.

"Alright mom" I said grudgingly and I looked to Ellie.

"You comin'?" I asked as she looked up again.

"Oh, sure, I guess" she dully and she followed me as I walked towards the door. I opened the door and motioned for her to go. As she went out I slammed the door behind me prepared for an awkward day.

"So uhh, how old are you?" I asked as we walked down the road to Joe's house. I was trying my best to make small talk, but it's kinda hard when you're talking to someone who never talks.

"Umm do you…have any hobbies?" I waved my hand in front her face and still no response. Jeez what is up with this girl? After a little bit more of walking I was fed up.

"Alright you don't have to like me and I sure as hell don't need to like you but it would be nice to get an answer when I ask a question" I growled. Still silence. I just shook my head. But then I heard her mutter something.

"What's that?" I asked. Maybe we have hit a breakthrough!

"I said, I think I'm 15 I don't really keep track….haven't had much time to, are you happy now?" she snapped at me. I was surprised. It could talk.

"Yeah it's a start I guess" I shrugged it off. She just scoffed and before a knew it we arrived at Joe's house.

"Come on, back here." I led her over to the fence in between Joe's house and the one next to it. I lifted the rusty latch up and swung the creaky wooden door open and walked in, Ellie following me. As we walked into the backyard I heard some other people's voices. We turned around the corner of the house and, sitting at the picnic table was Joe, his two little brothers, Jason and Tim, Joe's friend, Halie, who he met at the schoolhouse here, and his other friend from school, Logan. Joe's little brothers were the first to notice us and they ran over and clung to my legs.

"Joe, Joe, your friend is here!" they said happily. I reached down and ruffled their hair and then they released my leg and resumed their wrestling match. Joe quickly jogged over to me and greeted us.

"Hey man how's it goin- wait who's that?" He gestured to Ellie, who was basically hiding in my shadow. I stepped over so they could see her.

"This is Ellie, she just got here and she is staying in our house." He smiled and waved.

"Hey Ellie, I'm Joe!" He said with that stupid grin on his face. She continued her silence and didn't answer him.

"Yeah, she doesn't really talk much" I said shrugging. He nodded and we all walked back over to the picnic table were Halie was once again hard at work on one of her wolf drawings with Logan watching over her shoulder. Ellie, me, and Joe both sat down on the opposite side of the table, in that order. I slammed my fist down on the table causing Halie's hand to tear a hole through the detailed drawing. She quickly glanced up and shot me a death glare. I smiled a little.

"Hey" I said simply. She growled at me and crumpled up the paper. As Joe was laughing uncontrollably, she wailed the ball at his face causing him to fall off the bench, that caused us all to all start laughing as Joe clutched his head, still, weirdly, laughing. Sometimes that kid has no self control. The only person not laughing was, you called it, Ellie. I nudged her but she continued to stare into space. I figured I'd just leave her alone.

"So who's the new girl?" Logan asked as we calmed down and Joe peeled himself off the ground.

"Oh this is Ellie, she just got here yesterday, she and her dad-" I was quickly cut off.

"He's not my dad…" I heard Ellie mutter. I made a mental note to question that later, maybe there was more to this girl than I thought. I continued.

"Well anyway she just got here and I'm basically her babysitter now"I remarked rolling my eyes. I noticed Logan was staring at Ellie a little too intensely.

"Hey Logmill, snap out of it!" I clapped in his face and he stopped staring and shook his head.

"Well if you don't want to, I can show her around" he quickly said with a smirk.

"Yeahhh, I don't think so" I said laughing. He proceeded to get up from his seat and before he could seat himself next to Ellie, he found himself lying on the ground clutching his stomach.

"Don't. Touch. Me." Ellie quickly stood up and trudged to fence and slammed through the gate. I groaned and stood up to go after her.

"Nice job, Logmill" I said sarcastically as he laid on the ground with his long brown hair covering his face.

"No problem, champ" he uttered weakly. I laughed and said my goodbyes and ran out to find Ellie. As I shut the latch on the gate. I looked around the street and she was nowhere to be found. I jogged down the street for a bit occasionally calling for her, but to no avail. There isn't many places to hide here so I had no clue were she could be. I figured the only place she could've gone was back to the house so I quickly trekked home to find nothing once again. I walked around the house to backyard. Still nothing until I heard the sound of splitting wood and a small cry. I looked up to find Ellie sitting in the big tree behind our house.

"What are you doing up there?" I asked in disbelief.

"What does it look like? I'm sitting in a tree" she snapped.

"Alright, alright, no need to get snippy-"

"What the fuck do you mean 'no need to get snippy'? Your little friend back there was being a fuckin' creeper, what'd you expect me to do?" She hopped down from the tree and brushed the leaves and pieces of bark off of her.

"Ok, yeah he did deserve that, but why'd you run off, we could've all just sat there and had a laugh-"

"Just stop, you don't need to be my friend and frankly I don't want you to be if those are the people hang out with, I mean seriously-" I quickly grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her dead in the eyes.

"Chill. The. Hell. Out." I said shortly and sternly. She abruptly pushed me hard but she didn't argue anymore. Then all of a sudden I had a great idea that might break her out of this funk.

"Here follow me…" I motioned for her to come, and she hesitated but eventually she slowly started walking with me. As we walked through the backyards of the houses I decided to retry the conversation thing.

"So if Joel isn't your dad, who is he?" I asked casually as we walked. What happened next was astonishing. I got an answer.

"He's just a guy that protected me for a long time" she answered quietly.

"How'd you meet him if he isn't family?"I pressed on more.

She didn't look at me or even utter an answer.

"Alright we can take our time, we have enough of it" I said with small laugh. Finally we reached the large wall separating us from the wilderness.

"Wow. A big wall. Fun" Ellie remarked bluntly.

"Hey, have some patience there's more" I bent down and felt around for my secret patch of dirt for a bit until I felt it give away. I quickly dug it away just enough for us to squeeze through. I stood up and motioned towards the hole.

"Ladies first" I said with smirk on my face. She just rolled her eyes and crawled through the small space, followed by me. I put the dirt back in place and looked around at the woods. Just as beautiful as always with the birds tweeting, the sun shining, and Ellie holding my bow. Wait, Ellie holding my bow?! I quickly ran over and grabbed it from her hand.

"What are you doing, this thing is dangerous!" I quickly stuffed it back in its hiding place in the tree and stood back up to find her glaring at me.

"Jesus, you're just like Joel used to be, I know how to shoot a bow" she said disgusted. I thought about it. Well what's the worse she could do? I quickly pulled the bow back out and handed it to her.

"Fine, show me, shoot that acorn hanging off the tree there" I directed smugly. About 12 feet away there was a tree with a branch holding an acorn high in the air. Before I could even stand back to watch, I heard the string stretch, the arrow fly, and the acorn clunk to the ground. Without saying a word, she shoved the bow back in my hands. I was dumbfounded. I checked my watch to find it ten minutes till five. Before I had time to ask her the millions of questions I had just thought I went and picked up the arrow, then threw it with the bow back in the tree and ran.

"What are you doing?" She asked as I frantically dug up the earth.

"We aren't supposed to be out here so we gotta get back quick" she simply nodded and we both quickly crawled under and I closed up the hole and we sprinted back to the house. By the time we reached the house we were sweating and we collapsed near the front door. I was laughing and smiling from the adrenaline rush. I glanced over at Ellie and for a split second I thought she was smiling but she quickly noticed and erased the emotion from her face.

"Well.. That was fun right?" I asked her as we sat.

"Whatever, I guess" she answered quietly and the she suddenly jumped up yanked the door open and went in. Great now we are back to the silent treatment again. Shortly after, I got up and followed, closing the door behind me. We both walked into the kitchen to find my dad, mom, Abby, and Joel sitting at the dinner table enjoying, instead of canned beans, canned soup. What an upgrade. I greeted everyone and Ellie said absolutely nothing, even to Joel. We both sat down at the table and my parents started their daily dinner table conversation about how work was and if the plant was still up and running, with some extra commentary by Joel, wah, wah, wah, wah, wah. For a majority of the time, Ellie just sat there and said nothing, despite being prompted by Joel a few times. After a bit she stood up.

"I think I'm gonna go to bed, were can I sleep?" She asked quietly.

"Oh dear, your room is the room at the end of the hallway across from Zane's" my mother answered. Ellie muttered a thanks and quickly shuffled up the stairs.

"Why she's awfully quiet" my father said loudly laughing.

"Yeah, she's been through a lot, her and me both, just give her a little time, she'll grow on ya" Joel assured. I was still a little worried, which was weird because I had just met Ellie.

"May I be excused?" I asked as I stood up from the table. My parents nodded and I disposed of my food and slid the dishes into the sink. I quickly made my way up to the closed door of Ellie's room. I stood there for a moment trying to decide what to do, but I just settled on the simplest thing, knocking. I only knocked once before I heard a response.

"Joel if that's you just leave me the FUCK alone!" She yelled. Wow that was extreme, something has to be going on between those two.

"It's not Joel, it's me….it's Zane" I replied calmly. I heard her footsteps slowly approach the door and she opened it up slightly. I had noticed she had a change of clothes, now wearing a striped tank top in place of the flannel jacket and gray t shirt and she had her hair down which went down a little past her shoulders.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly.

"I was just going to-" that was when I noticed it. On her right arm was what looked like a big nasty scar. It covered almost the entirety of her forearm and wrist.

"Whoa are you alright?" I pointed at the scar and she quickly covered it.

"It's nothing, just get out of here I'm in a bad mood!" She slammed the door in my face and that was the last I saw of her till the next morning. Something was definitely….different about this girl.


	3. The Great Hunt For Ellie

I slowly opened my blurry eyes and found my room bathed in sunlight streaming through the window. I sat up and rubbed my sleepy eyes and got up off the bed. I checked the time and realized it was 11:00. That was very unusual mainly because I was so used to getting little sleep that I would always wake up early. Not only that but usually mom, dad, or Abbie would bug me to wake up. I walked over and lifted up the old squeaky window letting the woodland air flow into my room. I took a deep breath and looked around. The green of the trees and grass mixed with the sound of the running waterfall and the sun high in the sky was the perfect combination for a long day in the woods. I closed the window and changed my clothes. I replaced the usual muscle shirt with a sleeveless gray t shirt and a pair of jeans that I had cut into shorts. I slipped on some socks and headed out of my room. As I opened the door, I noticed Ellie's door was hanging wide open. I stuck my head inside for a second but all that I saw was her backpack sitting open next to the bed and some comic books laying on the bed itself…but no Ellie. Ehh she's probably just downstairs. I shrugged it off and made my way to the kitchen. I found the kitchen to be inhabited by only two people. Abbie was drawing with some melted crayons we had scavenged from an old elementary school. My mom was sitting at the sink, washing dishes, like always, presumably from breakfast. But no Ellie. Maybe mom will know. I walked over to my mom and she smiled and greeted me.

"Oh hey sleepyhead, it's about time, I guess it's good I let you sleep in, you must've needed it from all the excitement yesterday!" She said laughing. I rolled my eyes and scoffed.

"Yeah, excitement," I laughed also and continued.

"You know how exciting it is hanging out with Joe and his friends" I finished sarcastically. My mom looked at me sternly but uttered a chuckle.

"That's not very nice Zane" she said waving waving a finger.

"Yeah, yeah" I said shaking my head

"Oh by the way, I was wondering, have you noticed anything strange about Ellie, or even Joel for that matter?" I questioned. She gave me a look as if she was thinking but shrugged.

"No, Joel is a very nice man and Ellie seems like a sweet girl, she just must be pretty shy." Tell me something I don't know mom.

"No mom, I mean like does it seem like they are trying to hide something?" I pressed.

"No honey, why would you think that?" She inquired as she finished washing the dishes and shut off the faucet.

"Oh well…never mind, forget I said anything." I answered, dismissing the subject. She obviously didn't know anything I didn't.

"Oh alright honey" she concluded as she dried off her hands on a small towel next to the sink.

There has to be something here, I know it. I don't know why I'm the only one noticing it but I'm going to figure it out.

"So were is everyone anyway?" I asked as I sat down on the creaky old chair next to the table.

"Well, your father and Joel went down to work and Ellie said she was going out to hang out with the other kids" she answered, leaving me puzzled. Why would Ellie want to hang out with them? She obviously doesn't like them after yesterday's incident. Guess it's time for some good old Zane detective work. I quickly stood up.

"Well, I think I'll go join them." I told my mom as I made my way to the front door and slipped on my boots.

"Alright, have fun!" I heard my mother's voice call from the kitchen. I yelled back an affirmative and headed out the door into the sunshine. I shielded my eyes from the bright sun until my eyes adjusted. I looked around the neighborhood to find a scene that still felt fairly unreal to me. There was people doing garden work, and fixing parts of the dilapidated houses and sitting on their porches, or at least what's left of them, enjoying the hot summer day. It's crazy to imagine that the only thing that separates a happy, carefree life from a miserable, constantly traveling, and stressful life is a big metal wall. I jogged down the street quickly and reached Joe's house in no time. I unlatched the gate to the backyard and let it close behind me. To my surprise, the yard was devoid of Joe or the others. The only people here were Tim, Jason, and their mother. The two boys were chasing each other around the yard, like always, and their mom was sitting at the picnic table watching them. I walked up to the group and greeted them.

"Hey, Mrs. Noël." I said politely.

"Oh, hello Zane!" She returned happily. Before I could react I felt two masses grip onto my legs. I looked down at them and smiled.

"The Boy Wonders strike again!" I said laughing as they released me and continued their crazed sprinting after each other.

"I'm sorry about that, they are just so hyper nowadays" Mrs. Noël apologized. I chuckled and brushed it off.

"That's alright, don't worry about it"

"Oh, alrighty then, would you like something to drink, it sure is mighty warm out here." She offered.

"Oh, no thanks, I was just wondering if Joe was around?"

"He just went over to Logan's house, I don't know when he will be back, you know those boys and their video games." She finished with a chuckle.

"Alright, I think I'll just head over there, nice to see you" I said as I departed.

"You too, Zane" she called as I walked back around to the street. I continued my walk for a few minutes, which gave me some time to think. From what I could remember, the scar on Ellie's arm looked bad and I would've thought potentially fatal, however the skin was completely healed up. I dismissed the idea of a knife wound because I had sustained many in my life and they always healed pretty good and didn't leave large scars. Also, to achieve that level of damaged tissue, you would need a large blade and consistent wounding. Come to think of it though, I had seen similar wounds like hers, but they were a lot less ugly looking. When me and dad had scouted the elementary school that we had found the crayons at, we encountered a man who was laying in a large pool of blood and what looked like a freshly killed clicker right next to him. Me and dad slowly approached him, my bow trained directly to his head. He explained that his name was John and that he was trying to find some place to keep warm the night before and found himself awoken by a group of runners. He said he ran for a while until he found a room and barred it shut. To his dismay, he had inadvertently locked himself in the room with a clicker, which proceeded to bite deep into his shoulder. He managed to kill it but found himself unable to move due to the amount of blood loss. The bite looked very standard and was the size of a human mouth, obviously. He was already showing signs of turning such as skin color changing and bloodshot eyes. My dad looked back at me and gave me 'The Nod' which basically meant to let the arrow fly. The man surprisingly didn't object, but just closed his eyes and accepted it. After I had pulled the arrow from his skull I examined the wound closely, sketching parts of it in a small journal. Now thinking back to Ellie, the wound couldn't have possibly been a bite. The area affected was much larger than a human mouth would be able to cover and even if it was a bite, she would've turned a very long time ago due to the acceleration of the infection. Unfortunately, I don't have all day to think about this so I have to focus on finding Ellie. What's the point of figuring it out if she's hurt or something worse? As I approached Logan's house I tried the doorknob and pulled it open. As I walked around the house, which was a lot less decrepit than other house, still containing functional TV's, and even some old video game console from a long time ago called an 'Xbox One' whatever the fuck that means. I could tell Logan's parents had gone to work because all I heard was gunshots and the voices of Logan and Joe yelling in frustration. I quickly ascended the stairs and yanked the bedroom door open causing them to jump and Joe to fall off the bed. I love how clumsy Joe is, it's fucking hilarious.

"Zane, what the hell, we had almost beat the Devils' Lair in Destiny!" Logan yelled in protest.

"I don't care about your little game, I'm just looking for Ellie, I was told she came to hang out with you guys." I asked urgently. I saw Joe's head pop up from the other side of the bed.

"Oh did you lose your lady friend?" He asked with a dumb smirk on his face.

"Ok one she is not my lady friend-" I objected

"But she is a lady-" Joe interrupted

"And she is your friend right?" Logan finished. I could feel my frustration building up and my face getting hot.

"Whatever, just answer my goddamn question, jeez!" I spouted loudly.

"Alright, alright, calm down man, no we haven't seen her" Logan answered back with his hands in the air, and laughing a bit.

"Well, that's great, it's only her second day and I've lost her" I groaned.

"Maybe she made her own little hiding spot from all of us, considering how she reacted yesterday" Joe said laughing his nerdy little head off. Wait, that's it! I bet she went back through my secret exit!

"I gotta go guys, I have an idea where she might be!" I exclaimed hopefully as I ran down the steps.

"Alright, but remember to bring protection!" I heard Joe yell followed by the two of them laughing hysterically and the resuming sounds of gunfire. I quickly bursted through the door and took off down the street. As I closed the distance between me and the wall, I noticed the dirt was disturbed and I crawled through. I walked quietly to my storage tree and to my surprise my bow and arrows were all gone. Fuck, I bet Ellie took them. I looked around the tree and spotted a set of footprints. I grabbed my knife and my backpack just in case I ran into any trouble and started to follow the tracks. After walking for a while I checked my watch. I'd been following these footprints for a half hour?! Jeez Ellie where are you? I kept on following the tracks until I heard voices. I could count about three voices. One was definitely Ellie's and the other two sounded like men. I kept moving forward slowly and silently until I had them in my view. Ellie had my bow pulled back and aimed at the two men, who brandished a 9mm pistol and a 12 gauge shotgun. They both were wearing scraps of different clothes all sewn together into jackets and rugged pants. One looked to be over his fifties and the other maybe his late twenties at most. I turned my head and listened closely.

"Come on girly, just give up and no one has to get hurt" the older man grumbled. I watched as the younger man took a step forward and Ellie followed him with the bow.

"Stay the fuck back or I will put this arrow straight through your skull!" Ellie screamed at the younger man. She definitely knew how to handle herself. I assessed the situation. If I could sneak up behind them, I could take out the older man and she could get the younger one. However it might be valuable to keep them alive to get some information from them. Having bandits this close to the dam could prove problematic. Ellie comes first though, I need to make sure I keep her safe. I crouched down low and stepped quickly but quietly until I was a foot or two behind the older man. I looked over the man's shoulder and made eye contact with Ellie, which caused her eyes to widen. I raised a finger to my lips to signal her to be quiet. She did and I made my move. I moved up behind the old man and grabbed his left arm that was holding the pistol and held it behind his back causing him to yell out in pain and the pistol to fall to the ground. I quickly plunged the knife into his neck. In tandem with me, Ellie let the arrow fly. As the arrow flew, the young man pulled the trigger sending the shotgun blast towards Ellie before shortly falling to the ground with an arrow embedded in his brain. Ellie dropped to the ground just in time as the pellets flew over her and into the trees and the ground. I quickly let the man down to the ground and then pulled my knife out with little effort. My heart was racing, and I quickly followed my routine after a fight. I picked up the pistol, ejected the clip and the bullet in the chamber and put them in my pockets and tucked the pistol in my jeans then grabbed the shotgun, ejected the three shells inside and shoved them in my pockets also. I ran over to Ellie and reached out a hand to her.

"We make a pretty good team, huh?" I said with a smirk on my face as I helped her up. She rolled her eyes like always.

"Yeah, sure I guess" she answered as she retrieved the fallen bow and then tried to pull the arrow from man's head.

"Ellie, we need to get back to the dam, we don't know if there were any others coming" I said grabbing the arrow from her, planting my foot on the body and ripping the broad head free. She nodded and we turned to run only to find a large pipe coming toward me. I heard Ellie yell my name but I didn't react fast enough. The pipe hit me in the stomach, knocking the wind out of me and I collapsed to the ground. I then watched in blurry vision as two men grabbed Ellie and she struggled against them until one man got his arm around her neck. I reached out to Ellie as she collapsed to the ground also but she was out. I then felt strong arms around my neck. I clawed at them the best I could but to no avail. The only thing that followed next was darkness.


	4. The Great Escape

"Hey guy.."

Silence.

"Is he alive?"

Silence.

"I'll see…"

I jolted up as a rock nailed me in the hip.

"Ow, what the-" I jumped up ready to pummel whoever woke me then realized my predicament and relaxed. I surveyed my surroundings. To my left, right, and back were natural stone walls and in front of me was a rusty cage door. Through the bars I could see three identical "cells" like mine. One was inhabited by a fairly large guy looking a few years older than me. He was sporting a scruffy beard and long ragged hair and was wearing an almost nonexistent t-shirt with holes and tears all through it, and jeans. To the right of him was another cell. Another guy, the same age, was leaning against the back wall of his cell. He had tanned skin and fairly long black hair. It was hard to make out the rest of his figure due to the only light being given off by a flickering bulb hanging outside the cells. The third and final cell, was empty and I figured its resident had left a long time ago due to the fully grown skeleton covered in rags huddled in the corner. Then my memory hit me. Ellie! I went to my jean pockets and found them empty.

"Don't worry, they confiscated all your stuff" the guy with the tanned skin uttered in a pseudo-reassuring tone.

"Have either of you seen a girl? The last thing I remember was a bunch of guys beating the shit out of me with a pipe and then everything went black." I asked urgently. The tanned skinned guy took a second to think and replied.

"Red hair?, about yea high?" He motioned his hand to about Ellie's height.

"Yeah, that's her, do you know where she is!?" I shot back excitedly.

The two guys looked through their bars at each other and looked back at me solemnly.

"Sorry but you best give up that girl, she won't be with us longer…" He stared at the ground.

"What?!" I grabbed and shook the bars in anger, "What do you mean she-" he cut me off.

"The people that you find yourself in captivity of are known as the Servants of the Maiden" he said cynically.

"They believe that by consuming the bodies of young girls they will ascend to the heavens and be free of our 'cursed' world, or at least that's what their leader, Father Dumas, tells them." I felt the guilt hit hard. If I'd never have showed Ellie the way through the wall then this never would've happened.

"No way, you're crazy…" I heard the tanned skinned man say surprisedly. I looked up and saw him looking at the other prisoner. The man was making hand motions, most likely crude sign language.

"What, what is he saying?" I asked curiously. The two stared back at each other for a couple more moments and then the tanned skinned man turned back to me.

"Well?" I begged urgently.

"Calm yourself, my friend here said that he has an idea for an escape plan," the man shook his head in disbelief, "Before you got here we had discussed a plan but with just us two we had no chance but with you it might just work," the man smirked.

"As long as you help me save my friend, then I'm up for just about anything," I said desperately, hopefully these guys weren't just some nut jobs because I was going to have to trust them.

"Sounds good, now before we discuss the plan, it'd prolly be best that we be on a first name basis, my name's Rob and this hulk over here is Brian," I nodded to Brian, as expected I got no response, which was still kind of strange.

"Well nice to meet ya, I'm Zane" I replied back.

"Ahh sounds like a rich kid name," Rob remarked. I shrugged.

"I think we will make a good team," he said confidently, "Now let's get this plan underway…"

I started to feel a tinge of nervousness. What might I be getting myself into….

"Hey guard, I think something is wrong with this prisoner!" Rob yelled in a feeble nervous voice unlike him. A big burly man wearing similar attire to the men that attacked me and Ellie stomped in.. His pants were made of various materials sewn together and a flannel jacket. As he crossed in front of my cage I noticed a the first instrument of our escape, a 7 inch KA-BAR military knife tucked in the back of his pants. I silently watched as he grumbled towards Brian's cell. Brian had his head leaning against the bars, groaning in a sickly manner. As the guard came within range of the bars, I noticed Brian give me a quick look and initiated the escape plan.

"What's wrong this ti-" the guard attempted before having his shoulders seized through the bars and slammed hard into them. Brian released the unconscious man's body and reached through and grabbed the keys from his pockets. Brian quickly unlocked the cell and repeated the process. Once we were free we grouped up.

"I can't believe that actually worked!" I exclaimed excitedly, but quietly ( I'm not that stupid).

"Yeah, 'Phase One: Secure the Keys' accomplished, but we don't have much time to celebrate though, it's time for 'Phase Two: Ascend From Darkness'!" Rob replied confidently.

"Wow 'Ascend From Darkness'? Very theatrical…" I said sarcastically. Rob pointed towards Brian.

"He comes up with the names, I just work here" Rob said dismissively, chuckling. Brian kept straight face and I could tell he was probably a little annoyed with our banter.

"Alright, well Zane, grab that knife and let's move!" Rob commanded. I nodded and snatched the blade off the man's body and checked it. Nice and sharp, perfect.

After a few flights of stony stairs we found ourselves outside two doors. To our left was a heavy steel door with a small caged window in it and directly in front of us was a wooden, ornate door. From the wooden door came the muffled sounds of voices, chanting strange words that I couldn't make out. I turned back to the steel door as Brian unlocked it with the keys and slowly squeaked it open. Inside the small room was a man sound asleep in an office chair. Up against the walls were lockers with big padlocks on all of them. I looked to Rob, who put a finger up to his lips, signaling me to be quiet. I did as he said and watched as Brian approached the man from behind and snapped his neck quick and easily like he had been doing it for years.

"Hey pick your jaw up off the floor" I heard Rob tease. I chuckled and walked into the room.

"So what's the next step?" I asked as Rob grabbed the keys off the dead man and unlocked one of the lockers.

"'Phase Three: Rain Fire'" he replied with a smirk on his face as he withdrew an AK-47 assault rifle from the cabinet.

"Jeez what kinda religious cult needs this much firepower?" I asked incredulously as I accepted the rifle and charged the handle. Just the sound of the round loading into the chamber filled me with confidence.

"One that is 95% war veterans and 5% fanatical doomsday preppers" he answered as he pulled another rifle out and charged it.

"I bet this thing will scare em" I said confidently. Before I could revel in the gungasm, Brian grabbed the gun from me.

"What the-" I stopped my objection as Brian's stone cold face stared down at me. Rob put his hand on my shoulder.

"You got your blade and we are taking the rifles" he explained. "Me and Brian are gonna storm out there and fire some warning shots to show these people we mean business, when you hear the sixth shot, that's when you commence 'Phase Four: Skewer The Winged Beast'!" He said with flair. He must've noticed the puzzled look on my face.

"Trust me you'll see what we mean" he assured. I nodded in affirmative.

"But one thing," I added "remember we need to save Ellie".

"Yeah, yeah, don't worry we will get Emily" he said waving his hand.

"It's Ellie…" I corrected.

He ignored me and moved to the big wooden door. This is where I started to feel a little nervous but I needed to keep my priorities straight: Save Ellie and get the hell out of here. I drew my knife and followed them to the door. Rob turned to me and held up six fingers then drug his finger across his throat. I nodded and watched as the two heavily armed men opened the door and tramped up the creaky wooden steps. Religious chanting blasted loudly from the upper level and I listened carefully.

Stomp, stomp, stomp.

"Alright you animals, hands up!" Rob yelled.

Gasps from all over.

"The heathens!" An unknown but stately voice proclaimed.

"Yeah, looks like you didn't realize who you were messing with!" Rob yelled again.

Bang, bang, bang.

I mentally counted to three.

"Get down on the ground!" Rob yelled and was followed by more screams and grunts as people dropped to the ground. "Line these three up!" I listened to the sound of struggling people as they were forced down. That was when I started to worry a little. I wasn't planning on killing everyone, I just wanted to get out of here, but if I have to I wasn't going to hesitate. I loosened my tight, sweaty grip on the knife. That was when I heard the next three shots…and three thuds to the floor. I quickly regained my wits and sprinted up the stairs to my surprise. I found myself standing in a small church that had surely seen better days. The padding that used to cover the pews and the carpet were almost completely rotted away and many of the stained glass windows were covered by boards, most likely defense against stray walkers or clickers. To the front of the building I could see Ellie and most likely the owner of the stately voice. Ellie was tied down on the altar wearing what looked to be a patchwork dress similar to the style I had seen before on the various thugs and her hair had been pulled from it usual ponytail to hang haphazardly around her head. She seemed to be awake but wasn't making any noise or struggle. Standing behind her, wielding a large rusty cleaver was a man of about middle age with a long graying beard and a bald head. He was dressed in a priest's outfit (that he got from God knows where) and had large cloth wings fixed to his back. I continued my observations and saw Brian and Rob standing with their rifles trained on the strange man. At their feet were three men, laying in pools of blood, and had bullet holes in their temples. The rest of the congregation was huddled in a group behind Brian and Rob. Rob gave me a wink and mouthed 'Skewer the Winged Beast'. I nodded and snuck up behind the rows of pews and slowly made my way to the altar. I listened as the two stalled.

"Alright Dumas, put down the knife and let the girl go or I've got some rounds with your name on em."

The priest chuckled.

"Your threat means nothing to me, if you kill me then I ascend from this wretched earth" the priest fired back cockily. I felt my heart skip as he quickly brought the knife centimeters away from Ellie's throat.

"Partake in the feast and we will all ascend together!" Dumas stretched his free arm out to Rob and Brian.

"Uhh, no thanks I'm more of a beef guy myself" Rob quipped only inciting the priest more. He pressed the blade to Ellie's throat, drawing small amounts of blood. I realized I had no time left, I needed to move quick. I swiftly jumped from behind the final pew and chucked the knife directly towards his chest. It buried itself into his chest about 5 inches causing him to recoil, dropping his blade and seizing the weapon lodged in his chest in an attempt to pull it out. I proceeded to run up to him and gave a swift kick to the blade shoving it in the rest of the way and sending him tumbling to the ground. I watched as his body went limp and I grabbed the large butcher knife. I hurried to the altar and severed the ties around Ellie's arms and legs. I brushed the hair from her face only to notice the whites of her eyes were the only things showing. She then started to violently shake and I realized the horror taking place. My mom, having been a nurse before the outbreak, taught me about many illnesses, including seizures. I remembered one of her tips was to find a flower called a peony (which luckily was very plentiful around here) and use the root to stop the convulsions. Before I had any more time to think, the front doors burst open. A large man wearing what looked to be a military grade Kevlar vest and fatigues walked in, an M4 assault rifle in hand followed by three other men of similar stature. I quickly glanced to Rob and he motioned and yelled.

"Get down!" I picked up Ellie convulsing body and dropped behind the altar as I heard bullets start flying. Amidst all the gunfire I could hear the screams of the people as they fled the church and run behind the protection of the gun toting men. I slowly peeked around my cover and saw Brian, Rob, and the armed men trading bullets back and forth recklessly. I realized that it wouldn't be long till they made their way to me. I readjusted my hold on Ellie and gathered my breath. I quickly made a break for the pew Rob was taking cover behind. Just as I would expect with my luck, the second before reaching Rob, a bullet caught my shoulder, lodging deep in my shoulder bone. Luckily the adrenaline flowing through me dulled the pain but I knew if I forgot to take care of it then it would cause other problems. I made a mental note. I looked to Rob.

"What are we gonna do, we are outgunned!" I asked loudly over the cacophony.

After firing a few shots he answered.

"Hell if I know, that guy with the vest is the leader of the Church's guards they call him Azriel" he fired again.

"This really fucks up the plan but-" Rob paused and I noticed that Brian was sending another hand signal to him.

"You really wanna do that?" Rob yelled back to him in an almost sad sounding tone. Brian nodded and Rob looked back at me.

"So what?" I asked impatiently, I didn't know how much longer Ellie would be able to hold on.

"'Emergency Phase Five: Raise Hell'" he replied solemnly. He then placed his rifle on the ground and slid it over to Brian who picked it up and held the two rifles, one in each hand.

"God be with ya, brother." He turned back to me.

"When he breaks cover, we go for that window and we just run, got it?" I nodded and readied myself. The next events felt like they lasted an eternity despite the fact that it lasted about five minutes. As soon as Brian uncovered himself and started raining lead against the men, me and Rob dashed to the window. I raised my leg and tried to kick the wooden boards covering the window. They cracked but didn't budge. Rob backed up and rammed his shoulder against the boards, splintering them and breaking the glass behind it. I quickly stepped through and looked back as Rob did the same. To my horror, I could see Brian fire the final rounds of his guns and then be swiftly cut down by the guards. I quickly looked away and purged the image from my mind.

"Go, go, run!" Rob yelled. I obeyed. As we fled I could hear the yells of the men trying to find us and the sound of an engine starting. As we sprinted through the forest I heard the sound of a twig snapping and a grunt. I turned around to find Rob hanging by his foot from a tree.

"What happened?" I shrieked.

"The bastards set damn traps, quick, cut me down" Then the shit hit the fan. I felt Ellie's body go limp. I put my fingers to her neck and found no pulse. To add to the horror, I could hear the faint sound of the men approaching and dogs barking. I assessed the situation. I could either risk all of our lives and try to cut down Rob which would most likely get us caught or just straight up killed or I could let him go and run hoping to find a secure where I could attempt to administer some form of medicine to help Ellie. The panic overtook me and the feeling of Ellie's heavy, unconscious body in my arms grew more and more cold and terrifying.

"R-Rob I'm sorry I have to go, I can't let her die…" I admitted sadly feeling my heart wrench.

"What, no you fucker you can't leave me here,Brian died to save us and your gonna just throw that away!?" He exclaimed in anger. I contemplated and gave in. I quickly laid Ellie down and picked up a nearby sharp rock and scraped it against the rope but to no avail.

"Hey you stop there!" I heard a gruff voice yell. About twenty yards away, Azriel, his dogs, and his men were quickly closing the distance between us, firing their guns in the air.

"I'm sorry…" I said one last time. I don't work well under pressure.

"No don't you leave me here!" Rob yelled as I scooped up Ellie and ran.

After hearing the sound of the dogs and men and Rob's objections fade I finally sat Ellie on the ground, took some deep breaths and went to making the medicine. I quickly grabbed some peony flowers and ripped the stems from them. I placed the stems in between two rocks and ground them up as best as I could. I took the concoction and placed it on Ellie's tongue. I then placed my hands on her chest and tried my best to give her CPR. After some compressions and no results I waited a few seconds, repositioned and try it one more. After a lot more compressions I felt a stir in her chest, a gasp and then shortly after I felt a sharp punch to my jaw.

"What the FUCK, were you doing?!" Ellie yelled at me angrily as I sat on ground holding my aching jaw.

"What do you mean?" I shot back, confused.

"Hmm let me see, the last thing I remember was being knocked out and now the the first thing I see when I wake up is your hands on my boobs! Yeah that's totally normal!" I instinctually face palmed.

"I was giving you CPR, your heart stopped!" I shot back slightly laughing at the situation. I saw her think and saw her realization but she quickly covered that emotion, as I would've expected.

"Well thanks or whatever…" She mumbled as her face turned to a light shade of scarlet.

"No problem, it was my pleasure" I replied just to mess with her. Bad idea, she hit me again.

"Well I guess we better start finding our way home" I explained as I rubbed the sore spot of my stomach where she hit.

"How the hell are we gonna do that?"

"Well I say we head west and see if we can find any landmarks that can help us get our bearings" I took her hand and helped her up.

"Lead the way, Lewis"

"Lewis?" I inquired.

"You know like Lewis and Clark?" She explained.

"Never heard of em" I shrugged and we started our trek.


End file.
